About 50 prospective WR&E volunteers learned some basics about taking care of wildlife creatures in trouble. They also learned what it takes to become a certified wildlife rehabilitator or "rehabber," a volunteer who keeps injured wildlife animals and oversees their rehabilitation in conjunction with veterinarians.

Workshop presentations included an overview on educating the public about coexisting with wildlife and special lessons about caring for birds and baby mammals.

Member Roxanna Braun gave a presentation on coexisting with wildlife, drawing comments from WR&E's position paper, "Living with Wildlife."

"The human world is closing in on the wildlife that makes it enjoyable. As our cities and towns grow and suburbs expand, there are inevitable conflicts between theneeds' of people and the needs of animals," Braun said.

Real world threats

Wildlife creatures that commonly come into contact with human life in suburban and rural land developments include armadillos, bats, birds, mice, opossums, raccoons, rats, skunks, snakes and squirrels.

The animals are threatened by a number of factors. They may get hit by cars or other vehicles and equipment used by humans. They may ingest chemicals or other substances, or come into contact with electrical items. They are sometimes shot by gunfire or attacked by dogs or cats.

When a baby bird or small mammal's parent dies, they find themselves orphaned in a predominantly human environment. Injured or orphaned animals are particularly vulnerable in these circumstances, and wildlife rehabilitators are trained to help the creatures recover so they can return to their natural environment.

Wildlife handling tips

WR&E workshop conductors offered a number of tips on how people should treat animals in jeopardy.

"When you spot a baby squirrel or baby possum, you need to determine if it's really orphaned or injured," she said "It's important to make sure it really needs your help. If it can run from you, it probably doesn't need your help."

If it does need help, she recommended placing the critter in a box, wearing garden gloves. Keep it in a warm, quiet place, but not in a house with air conditioning or heaters.

"And most important, don't try feeding these guys because even milk can kill them. Call a rehabber -- someone who's trained to know what to do," Ecton said.

"For awhile, you're going to be a substitute mom or dad for them, but you're not turning these animals into pets," said Karen Kratoville, a second-grade teacher who gave a presentation on caring for birds.

"What you want to do is take care of the orphaned or injured animal so it can eventually be returned to its natural environment."

Wildlife animals are often not as threatening to humans as some believe, but they can carry diseases and injure people trying to pick them up by biting or pecking them.

Personal hygiene also is a serious matter when handling pets.

"It's important to sterilize anything that a diseased animal might have infected if you've caught an animal with parasites," said Mary Carol Warwick, vice president of WR&E, who lives in the Braeswood/Medical Center area. "If you have fecal materials in the bottom of a cage, it dries, the spores can be released, and other animals can pick up severe bacterial infections from dirty water."

WR&E conducts a special program on how to prevent diseases from spreading from animal to humans.

Wildlife damage can be minimized using animal-proofing techniques, including physical barriers, repellants, and trapping and relocating.

While household items can be used to shelter and care for the pets, they must be used correctly, Kratoville said. People often make the mistake of converting items used by household pets into a wildlife animals' temporary refuge, and this can pose hazards to the animals.

"Anything unnatural can stress the animal. For example, don't put a bird in a cat carrier because the smells can cause stress."

The organizations's Web site is at www.wrande.org. To join WR&E or to learn more about the organization, call 713-643-WILD. Area residents also may call this number to speak with a rehabber when they've found an injured or orphaned wildlife animal.